Dog Days For Silicon Valley?

Never has a show not Silicon Valley dared to satirize capitalist computer whizzes. We all greatly admire the vision and flair of the minds that have given shape to multi-million companies like Google, Apple, Twitter, etc. Silicon Valley too acknowledges their intellect and sagacity, but at the same time it scrutinizes their very bases from a critical viewpoint. The HBO comedy realized the significance of this ever-developing technology and the commercial aspects of merchandising this technology. It hence rendered American television with four straight seasons of such burlesque that remain unexampled. And this ceases to be true for times to come.

Repetition

However; repetitive exploitation of the same cues contaminated the originality of the show. And, by the end of the fourth season, we saw the show getting trapped in an endless loop it has created itself. In its new season (Season 5), we continue to see that the doctrine of monotony has not yet elapsed.

Silicon Valley’s Pied Piper gang is unique in its own ways: They are a group of sharp minded, business oriented, financially successful folks with a callow façade. They are less emotionally green, and this gives rise to several comic tiffs on the show. However, the last season took a major turn when the hunger for power tainted Richard (Thomas Middleditch). The show tried to deal with the issue throughout the season, before finally things got back to normal. Season 5; however, yet again picked up the same arc and handled it an entirely abstract and haphazard fashion.

Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Dinesh’s (Kumail Nanjiani) clashes that once filled the show with despicable cheer are now drab and dreary. Jared’s (Zach Woods) loyalty remains intact, and his free-from-fuss psyche gives the show the harmony it needs. Zach too gets the best lines; perhaps even the show-runners have recognized him as the show’s saving grace. Erlich Bachman (T.J. Miller) is no more a part of the show, and his absence has punctured a zeitgeist of nihilism in the show. Jian Yang (Jimmy O. Yang), who plays a greedy disruptor, only compensates reluctantly for the lost laughs in a B grade plot.

No Depth Of Emotions

As show once extremely hostile and fidgety is now so relaxed that you just can’t circle out a single jittery instance that generates glee in the show. A show that revolves around software, people working around software, and consumers of software needs to include relevant issues from its real complimentary timeline. And, Silicon Valley strictly refuses to do that. It belittles privacy concerns, in a way that was done before the Hilary email scandal. For instance, in Episode 3, “Chief Operating Officer,” Silicon Valley treated an alarming privacy transgression as a small fire that predictably erupts and consequently gets extinguished.

No Mention of Current Events

It remains ignorant to the #MeToo movement, and does not even attempt to address women’s issues at work place. In an episode, we do see a new hire walk into the Pied Piper office. He looks over the workforce and says, “Nice gender mix, could use a little more color — baby steps, right?” But that is literally it. The show literally utilized an impending social revolution to garnish a dull episode with some connection to the present.

Perhaps, in the future the show will try to engross itself into larger hot-topic issues rather than just revolving around the same boundaries. For some reason, the show relies on only surface emotions in its story-telling venture. Probably, it assumes that since it is a satire around technology, it can be devoid of emotions. Sadly this ceases to be the case. Mike Judge’s comedy needs to get a grip before it becomes pulpy like several other long running sitcoms.

Syed Fahadullah Hussaini is Dankanator’s TV critic and reporter. Fahad has written for platforms including Parhlo, Wonderful Engineering and Mangobaaz. Fahad’s work has also appeared on Dawn’s Young World, and on several Paparazzi issues.

Fahad views TV as a resource rather than a medium. Laden richly with an extensive medley of ideas, cultures, facts, and fables. The writer taps on TV’s new and returning presentations, and channels out every bit of news related to them, along with objectively (and subjectively) analyzing their substance.

Fahad is currently working on a short-stories collection, ‘Seven Colors Of Life’, which shall soon be available on his blog.